President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania on Nov. 19, 1863.

Written by

Michael E. Ruane
| The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Parris Griffith wanted President Lincoln to know that his son was a good and true soldier and should not be executed for mutiny.

Union Sgt. Thomas Griffith, and others in his company, had refused to serve under a lieutenant they had not elected - having been promised on enlistment they could elect their commanders.

The younger Griffith was "as fine a man as lives," his father wrote the president in 1863. He had voted for Lincoln and spent eight months as a prisoner of war. Now, "because he desired a voice in selecting his officers, he must be shot." ...